6th Sunday after Pentecost
Isaiah 66:10-14
7/8/2007
Rev. Philip A. Bouknight
My deepest desire for each of you is that you would look upon your relationship with God and know that you are loved with a passion that is beyond our comprehension. Your life is more important to God than the most important thing in your life. God’s desire for your heart is greater than your heart’s deepest desire. You are cherished. You are treasured.
God expounds upon our human relationships in order to give us images which convey the height depth, width, and breadth of his love. He chooses the most intimate images and settings to do this, using them so that we might begin to understand that which is beyond reason. Such is the image which is used by God in our passage from Isaiah. Just before this reading, God speaks of giving us birth, asking us to look honestly at our relationship with him. He says…could I who conceived you not deliver you? Could I who brought you into this world abandon you? Of course not. Remember that when trouble arises. Remember that when you feel alone. Remember that when the circumstances of your life make you feel as though life is not worth living. Remember who I am, because I am with you.
Where do we turn in times of trouble? I am saddened to tell you that most often, those who have been re-birthed into new life in Christ fail to turn to God when they face troubles. Prayer is seen as the last resort; the thing to try once everything else fails. We turn to God when we finally realize that we cannot pick ourselves up by the boot straps. We reach the bottom of a pit that we have dug for ourselves and it is the darkness that we find in the depths of that pit which finally directs us to look up for light. We are guilty of putting much more effort into our earthly relationships than we do our relationship with God. This is so commonplace that books are now printed to guide pastors in their leadership sporting titles such a How to make Christ relevant to your parishioners. Isn’t that sad? How to make Christ relevant when He is utterly essential.
Lets turn again to the birth image from Isaiah. Out of all the significant memories in my life, the ones that are tantamount are the births of my children. I cannot visually recall many memories, but I can still see in my minds eye each child as they came forth screaming from the womb. There isn’t a more precious image for me. I hear God saying, if you think that this moment in your life with your children is special, then remember me who gave you birth and who gave you the life of those children.
I would die for my child. If something threatened their life, I would exchange my life for theirs. I would throw them out of the way of a car and take the blow myself. I would take a bullet. I would do whatever was necessary to save them and I wouldn’t have to think about it. If I would do that for my child, then I am able to comprehend God who has already done that for me. Could I who conceived you not deliver you and could I who delivered you, ever abandon you? No! Of course not. Never!
God continues with this image, developing it by describing a mother’s tender care for her child. He gently nurses us, giving us that which is essential for life. He helps us grow and gives us the antibodies necessary to ward off disease. In our case, the disease is sin. When we are hurt or scared, he gently pulls us to his breast so that we may be calmed. He speaks of nursing us with grace that is never ending. Then when we are satisfied, he gently bounces us on his knee.
As a husband, I can appreciate the image. It helps me as I endeavor to understand God’s love for me. As a man, I will never grasp the fullness of what he is trying to tell us. I will not grasp it, because I did not give birth to my children. I held my wife’s hand as she did. There is a bond between mother and child that I will never experience from the parental side. I have never nursed my child, giving it life from myself. I have never consoled them by pulling them to my breast. I have not lived this image, but I have experienced enough to perceive that God is trying to tell us that the bond that we have with him is inexplicably glorious.
Oh that we would behave as little children! When you see a child who is hurt or one who has just experienced hatred or prejudice, they do not sit off in a corner by themselves trying to determine how they are going to get through it. They run immediately to their parents and most often…mom crying “I have been hurt. They were mean to me. Make it better.” Then the parent gently caresses the child, pulls them close and in that tender moment extracts their pain as through some powerful elixir.
No. As adults, we tend to run to no one. We sit off by ourselves sulking. We try to ride the storm finding the courage from within to triumph over the pain from without. The sad thing is that the pain remains. It is only masked by a thin layer we call self sufficiency. Be the child when you experience pain in your life. Run to God and say “I am hurt. They were mean to me. Make it better.” He will clasp your head and draw you unto himself. He longs to console us. He longs to be that mother, gently making it all disappear. What a tender image we have been given of our loving and gracious God.
Remember, his comfort and his care never ceases. It is an ever flowing stream waiting for you to drink. Go to your God in prayer so that he might tend to your wounds. You are precious to him. You are treasured by him. You are his beloved child whom he has given life. There is no greater love than that which he has to offer. Be the child and run to him. Be the child and cry out when you are in pain. Those pick yourself up by the bootstrap, self help ways of living are for those who do not know the wonderful, never ending, indescribable love of God. If you want to help yourself, then run to the one that can heal you. When the child in you comes back and you are willing to be cared for by God, then you will know that you are loved with a passion beyond your comprehension. You will know the most important thing in your life is to give your life to God. The deepest desire of your heart will be to give him your heart. He waits…. to draw you unto himself. Be a child. Run to him.
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